Vivekananda, who did so much to reveal the soul of India to the West, says:
"According to the philosophers of India, the whole universe is composed of two materials, one of which they call Akasha. It is the omnipresent all penetrating existence. Everything that has form, everything that is the result of the compounds, is evolved out of this Akasha. It is the Akasha that becomes the air, that becomes the liquids, that becomes the solids; it is the Akasha that becomes the sun, the earth, the moon, the stars, the comets; it is the Akasha that becomes the body, the animal body, the planets, every form that we see, everything that can be sensed, everything that exists. It itself cannot be perceived; it is so subtle that it is beyond all ordinary perception; it can only be seen when it has become gross, has taken form. At the beginning of creation there is only this Akasha; at the end of the cycle the solids, the liquids, and the gases all melt into the Akasha again, and the next creation similarly proceeds out of this Akasha.
By what power is this Akasha manufactured into this universe? By the power of Prana. Just as Akasha is the infinite omnipresent material of this universe, so is this Prana the infinite omnipresent manifesting power of this universe. At the beginning and at the end of a cycle everything becomes Akasha, and all the forces that are in the universe resolve back into the Prana; in the next cycle, out of this Prana, is evolved everything that we call energy, everything that we call force. It is the Prana that is manifesting as motion; it is the Prana that is manifesting as gravitation, as magnetism. It is the Prana that is manifesting as the actions of the body, as the nerve currents, as thought force. From thought, down to the lowest physical force, everything is but the manifestation of Prana. The sumtotal of all force in the universe, mental or physical when resolved back to its original state, is called Prana...
- Vivekananda, Swami, Raja Yoga, pp. 29, 30.
The energies which utilize the akasha (ether) in the universe are divided into three main divisions according to the Ageless Wisdom.
Fohat, is analogous to what the Christian regards as the spirit; it is the will-to-exist, the determining life principle of God, Who, we can predicate, is the sum total of all forms, and of all states of consciousness; it is divine Purpose, actively functioning.
Prana, is analogous to the activity of the consciousness principle, the Soul of the Christian. This prana is an effect of the union of spirit or life, and matter or substance, and demonstrates as the energy of the form, as it produces cohesion, animation and sensitivity, carrying out divine purpose.
Kundalini, as it is called in connection with the human form, is the force latent in matter itself; it is the integral life of the atom, apart from any form in which that atom may participate in its tiny cycle of experience.
~The Soul and its Mechanism, p 96
"By one-pointed meditation upon the relationship existing between the body and the akasha, ascension out of matter (the three worlds) and power to travel in space is gained."
- Patanjali: III.42. (TheLight of the Soul, page 338.)
It is known esoterically that the vegetable kingdom is the transmitter and the transformer of the vital pranic fluid to the other forms of life on our planet. That is its divine and unique function. This pranic fluid, in its form of the astral light, is the reflector of the divine akasha. The second plane therefore reflects itself in the astral plane. Those who seek to read the akashic records, or who endeavor to work upon the astral plane with impunity, and there to study the reflection of events in the astral light correctly, have perforce and without exception to be strict vegetarians. EPI, p 241
41. By the means of one-pointed meditation upon the relationship between the akasha and sound, an organ for spiritual hearing will be developed. 42. By one-pointed meditation upon the relationship existing between the body and the akasha, ascension out of matter (the three worlds) and power to travel in space is gained. YSP
The akashic record is like an immense photographic film, registering all the desires and earth experiences of our planet. Those who perceive it will see pictured thereon:
The life experiences of every human being since time began,
The reactions to experience of the entire animal kingdom,
The aggregation of the thought-forms of a kamic nature (based on desire) of every human unit throughout time. Herein lies the great deception of the records. Only a trained occultist can distinguish between actual experience and those astral pictures created by imagination and keen desire.
The planetary "Dweller on the Threshold" with all that appertains to that term and all the aggregations of forms which are to be found in its environment.
The trained seer has learnt to dissociate that which pertains to his own aura and the aura of the planet (which is in actuality the akashic record). YSP, p 275
The akasha is everywhere. In it we live and move and have our being. All is but one substance, and in the human body are found the correspondences to the various differentiations. YSP, p 338
Sound, in an occult and deeply metaphysical sense, stands for that which we term "the relation between", and is the creating intermediary, the linking third factor in the process of manifestation. It is the akasha. LOM, p 54
Individual desire, national desire, racial desire, the desire of humanity as a whole, plus the instinctual desire of all subhuman lives causes a constant changing and shifting of the substance of the plane; there is a building of the temporary forms, some of rare beauty, some of no beauty, and a vitalizing by the astral energy of its creator. Add to these forms that persistent and steadily growing scenario we call the "akashic records" which concern the emotional history of the past, add the activities of the discarnate lives which are passing through the astral plane, either out of or towards incarnation, add the potent desire, purified and intelligent, of all superhuman Lives, including those of the occult planetary Hierarchy, and the sum total of forces present is stupendous. TOWM, p 222
It is possible also for the more advanced aspirant and those upon the Path of Discipleship to contact ancient vibrations of evil and misery on the astral plane - evil long past and gone; it is possible for them to read a tiny fragment of the akashic records which concerns coming distress to an individual or a group, which they themselves may never see and yet nevertheless appropriate the conveyed information to themselves and suffer consequently. TOWM, p 304
At the second initiation "the secret of the sea" is unfolded to him, and through this revelation two subjects of profound interest become clarified to his inner vision. They are:
The mystery of the astral light.
The law of karma.
He is, after this, in a position to do two things, without which he cannot work off that which hinders, and thus achieve liberation; he can read the akashic records and ascertain the past, thereby enabling himself to work intelligently in the present, and he can begin to balance his karma, to work off his obligations, and to understand how karma in the three worlds can be negated. IHS, p 169
9 Akasha. Definition (S. D., II,538) * It is the synthesis of ether (S. D., I, 353, 354)
It is the essence of ether (S. D., I, 366)
It is primordial ether (S D., I, 585)
It is the third Logos in manifestation (S D., I, 377)
10 H. P. B., defines the Akasha in the following terms: (S. D., II, 538) "Akasha the astral Light can be defined in a few words: It is the Universal soul, the Matrix of the Universe, the Mysterium Magicum from which all that exists is born by separation or differentiation. In the various occult books it is called by different terms and it would be of value perhaps if we enumerate some of them here: There is one universal element with its differentiations.
Homogeneous
Differentiated
1. Undifferentiated cosmic substance
1. Astral Light.
2. Primordial ether
2. Sea of fire.
3. Primordial electric entity
3. Electricity.
4. Akasha
4. Prakriti.
5. Super-astral light
5. Atomic matter.
6. Fiery serpent
6. The serpent of evil.
7. Mulaprakriti.
7. Ether, with its four divisions "air, fire, water earth".
8. Pregenetic matter.
11 Fohat is divine thought or energy (Shakti) as manifested on any plane of the cosmos. It is the interplay between Spirit and matter. The seven differentiations of Fohat are: # The Plane of divine life - Adi - Sea of fire.
The Plane of monadic life - Anupadaka - Akasha.
The Plane of spirit - Atma - Aether.
The Plane of the intuition - Buddhi - Air.
The Plane of mind - Mental - Fire.
The Plane of desire - Astral - Astral Light.
The Plane of density - Physical - Ether.
(S. D., I, 105, 134, 135, 136)
The etheric body of man holds hid the secret of his objectivity. It has its correspondence on the archetypal plane, - the plane we call that of the divine manifestation, the first plane of our solar system, the plane Adi. The matter of that highest plane is called often the "sea of fire" and it is the root of the akasha, the term applied to the substance of the second plane of manifestation. TOCF, p 79
Here on the second plane, the sea of electrical fire, which distinguished the first plane, is transformed into the akasha, or burning etheric matter. It is the plane of the flaming Sun, just as the first plane is that of the fire mist or the nebulae. This idea will be easier to comprehend if it is borne in mind that we are dealing with the cosmic physical plane. TOCF, p 311
In all thought building, therefore, of a high order, men have several things to do, which might be enumerated as follows:
First, to purify their lower desires so that they are enabled to see clearly in the occult sense. No man has clear vision who is obsessed with his own needs, actions, and interests, and unconscious of that which is higher and of group activity. This clear vision brings about an ability to read, even if unconsciously at first, the akashic records, and thus ascertain the point of departure for the new and incoming thought impulses, an ability to lose sight of self interest in group interest, and thus cooperate with the plan, and a faculty that enables him to become aware of the keynote of the race, and aware of the "cry of humanity." TOCF, p 955
The Law of Economy is the law of the negative electron; the Law of Synthesis is the Law of the positive central life; whilst the Law of Attraction governs that which is produced by the relation of these two, and is itself controlled by a greater cosmic law which is the principle of the intelligence of substance. It is the law of Akasha. (S. D., I, 56, 73, 74.)
Akasha
"According to the philosophers of India, the whole universe is composed of two materials, one of which they call Akasha. It is the omnipresent all penetrating existence. Everything that has form, everything that is the result of the compounds, is evolved out of this Akasha. It is the Akasha that becomes the air, that becomes the liquids, that becomes the solids; it is the Akasha that becomes the sun, the earth, the moon, the stars, the comets; it is the Akasha that becomes the body, the animal body, the planets, every form that we see, everything that can be sensed, everything that exists. It itself cannot be perceived; it is so subtle that it is beyond all ordinary perception; it can only be seen when it has become gross, has taken form. At the beginning of creation there is only this Akasha; at the end of the cycle the solids, the liquids, and the gases all melt into the Akasha again, and the next creation similarly proceeds out of this Akasha.
By what power is this Akasha manufactured into this universe? By the power of Prana. Just as Akasha is the infinite omnipresent material of this universe, so is this Prana the infinite omnipresent manifesting power of this universe. At the beginning and at the end of a cycle everything becomes Akasha, and all the forces that are in the universe resolve back into the Prana; in the next cycle, out of this Prana, is evolved everything that we call energy, everything that we call force. It is the Prana that is manifesting as motion; it is the Prana that is manifesting as gravitation, as magnetism. It is the Prana that is manifesting as the actions of the body, as the nerve currents, as thought force. From thought, down to the lowest physical force, everything is but the manifestation of Prana. The sumtotal of all force in the universe, mental or physical when resolved back to its original state, is called Prana...
- Vivekananda, Swami, Raja Yoga, pp. 29, 30.
The energies which utilize the akasha (ether) in the universe are divided into three main divisions according to the Ageless Wisdom.
- Fohat, is analogous to what the Christian regards as the spirit; it is the will-to-exist, the determining life principle of God, Who, we can predicate, is the sum total of all forms, and of all states of consciousness; it is divine Purpose, actively functioning.
- Prana, is analogous to the activity of the consciousness principle, the Soul of the Christian. This prana is an effect of the union of spirit or life, and matter or substance, and demonstrates as the energy of the form, as it produces cohesion, animation and sensitivity, carrying out divine purpose.
- Kundalini, as it is called in connection with the human form, is the force latent in matter itself; it is the integral life of the atom, apart from any form in which that atom may participate in its tiny cycle of experience.
~The Soul and its Mechanism, p 96"By one-pointed meditation upon the relationship existing between the body and the akasha, ascension out of matter (the three worlds) and power to travel in space is gained."
- Patanjali: III.42. (The Light of the Soul, page 338.)
It is known esoterically that the vegetable kingdom is the transmitter and the transformer of the vital pranic fluid to the other forms of life on our planet. That is its divine and unique function. This pranic fluid, in its form of the astral light, is the reflector of the divine akasha. The second plane therefore reflects itself in the astral plane. Those who seek to read the akashic records, or who endeavor to work upon the astral plane with impunity, and there to study the reflection of events in the astral light correctly, have perforce and without exception to be strict vegetarians. EPI, p 241
41. By the means of one-pointed meditation upon the relationship between the akasha and sound, an organ for spiritual hearing will be developed.
42. By one-pointed meditation upon the relationship existing between the body and the akasha, ascension out of matter (the three worlds) and power to travel in space is gained. YSP
The akashic record is like an immense photographic film, registering all the desires and earth experiences of our planet. Those who perceive it will see pictured thereon:
- The life experiences of every human being since time began,
- The reactions to experience of the entire animal kingdom,
- The aggregation of the thought-forms of a kamic nature (based on desire) of every human unit throughout time. Herein lies the great deception of the records. Only a trained occultist can distinguish between actual experience and those astral pictures created by imagination and keen desire.
- The planetary "Dweller on the Threshold" with all that appertains to that term and all the aggregations of forms which are to be found in its environment.
The trained seer has learnt to dissociate that which pertains to his own aura and the aura of the planet (which is in actuality the akashic record). YSP, p 275The akasha is everywhere. In it we live and move and have our being. All is but one substance, and in the human body are found the correspondences to the various differentiations. YSP, p 338
Sound, in an occult and deeply metaphysical sense, stands for that which we term "the relation between", and is the creating intermediary, the linking third factor in the process of manifestation. It is the akasha. LOM, p 54
Individual desire, national desire, racial desire, the desire of humanity as a whole, plus the instinctual desire of all subhuman lives causes a constant changing and shifting of the substance of the plane; there is a building of the temporary forms, some of rare beauty, some of no beauty, and a vitalizing by the astral energy of its creator. Add to these forms that persistent and steadily growing scenario we call the "akashic records" which concern the emotional history of the past, add the activities of the discarnate lives which are passing through the astral plane, either out of or towards incarnation, add the potent desire, purified and intelligent, of all superhuman Lives, including those of the occult planetary Hierarchy, and the sum total of forces present is stupendous. TOWM, p 222
It is possible also for the more advanced aspirant and those upon the Path of Discipleship to contact ancient vibrations of evil and misery on the astral plane - evil long past and gone; it is possible for them to read a tiny fragment of the akashic records which concerns coming distress to an individual or a group, which they themselves may never see and yet nevertheless appropriate the conveyed information to themselves and suffer consequently. TOWM, p 304
At the second initiation "the secret of the sea" is unfolded to him, and through this revelation two subjects of profound interest become clarified to his inner vision. They are:
- The mystery of the astral light.
- The law of karma.
He is, after this, in a position to do two things, without which he cannot work off that which hinders, and thus achieve liberation; he can read the akashic records and ascertain the past, thereby enabling himself to work intelligently in the present, and he can begin to balance his karma, to work off his obligations, and to understand how karma in the three worlds can be negated. IHS, p 169* It is the synthesis of ether (S. D., I, 353, 354)
10 H. P. B., defines the Akasha in the following terms: (S. D., II, 538) "Akasha the astral Light can be defined in a few words: It is the Universal soul, the Matrix of the Universe, the Mysterium Magicum from which all that exists is born by separation or differentiation. In the various occult books it is called by different terms and it would be of value perhaps if we enumerate some of them here: There is one universal element with its differentiations.
- The Plane of monadic life - Anupadaka - Akasha.
- The Plane of spirit - Atma - Aether.
- The Plane of the intuition - Buddhi - Air.
- The Plane of mind - Mental - Fire.
- The Plane of desire - Astral - Astral Light.
- The Plane of density - Physical - Ether.
(S. D., I, 105, 134, 135, 136)The etheric body of man holds hid the secret of his objectivity. It has its correspondence on the archetypal plane, - the plane we call that of the divine manifestation, the first plane of our solar system, the plane Adi. The matter of that highest plane is called often the "sea of fire" and it is the root of the akasha, the term applied to the substance of the second plane of manifestation. TOCF, p 79
Here on the second plane, the sea of electrical fire, which distinguished the first plane, is transformed into the akasha, or burning etheric matter. It is the plane of the flaming Sun, just as the first plane is that of the fire mist or the nebulae. This idea will be easier to comprehend if it is borne in mind that we are dealing with the cosmic physical plane. TOCF, p 311
In all thought building, therefore, of a high order, men have several things to do, which might be enumerated as follows:
First, to purify their lower desires so that they are enabled to see clearly in the occult sense. No man has clear vision who is obsessed with his own needs, actions, and interests, and unconscious of that which is higher and of group activity. This clear vision brings about an ability to read, even if unconsciously at first, the akashic records, and thus ascertain the point of departure for the new and incoming thought impulses, an ability to lose sight of self interest in group interest, and thus cooperate with the plan, and a faculty that enables him to become aware of the keynote of the race, and aware of the "cry of humanity." TOCF, p 955
The Law of Economy is the law of the negative electron; the Law of Synthesis is the Law of the positive central life; whilst the Law of Attraction governs that which is produced by the relation of these two, and is itself controlled by a greater cosmic law which is the principle of the intelligence of substance. It is the law of Akasha. (S. D., I, 56, 73, 74.)